The principal of one of Scotland’s most prestigious universities has revealed how it feared bankruptcy in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sir Peter Mathieson said Edinburgh University , and others, carried out modelling in 2020 to prepare for the impact of losing income from international students. They found “universities would be rapidly bankrupt if there was not mitigation”.
Sir Peter revealed the scenario planning in an article for the Policy Institute at King’s College London, in which he outlined six ways the new UK government, and its Holyrood counterpart, could help the higher education sector flourish. In the article, Sir Peter also backed the “intriguing idea” of a Scotland-specific visa system, perhaps linked to tax codes, which “could allow Scotland, a part of the UK that welcomes immigration and recognises that it needs more not less, to differentiate its reputation to potential international students and other employment-seeking migrants”. Meanwhile, the Edinburgh University principal criticised former first ministers Humza Yousaf and Alex Salmond over the way they reacted to remarks he made last year, in which he suggested there should be “calm consideration” of the future funding model for universities, including “free tuition” for Scottish undergraduates.
“What followed could hardly be considered ‘calm’: the-then First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf publicly disagreed with me and one of his predecessors Alex Salmond u.